The former Colorado Avalanche forward filed the suit against Bertuzzi last February in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, seeking damages and lost wages. The suit came two years after Bertuzzi, then with the Vancouver Canucks, punched Moore from behind and drove the Avalanche forward onto the ice. Moore suffered three broken vertebrae, a concussion and other injuries.

Sources say legal representatives for Moore, who has not played since the March 8, 2004 game, and Bertuzzi, now a member of the Florida Panthers, requested the meeting with Bettman. The NHL and a Bertuzzi representative had no comment on the matter. Moore's lawyer, Tim Danson, did not immediately return calls for comment.

In filing the civil suit, Danson, alleged the Bertuzzi attack was payback for Moore's hit on Canuck captain Markus Naslund a month earlier. Bertuzzi was suspended for the final 13 games of the regular season, plus the playoffs leading into a lockout that wiped out the entire 2003-2004 season. Bertuzzi was charged by Vancouver police and pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.

(CP) - A month ago Joe Pavelski was toiling in Worcester, Mass., in the AHL.

Now? His new nickname is "Little Joe," and he's playing on the top line with the San Jose Sharks alongside superstar centre Joe Thornton. "Everything's happened so quick," Pavelski said from San Jose. "I've gotten a few scoring chances and I've been able to capitalize so far."

Try seven goals and one assist in 11 games since his recall. Asked what his reaction would have been if told of this output before he got called up, Pavelski laughed.

"I would have said, 'That's awesome, but where have all the assists gone?' Because down in the AHL, all I could get for a while was assists," he said. "Then I get up here and I'm just scoring goals and guys are like, 'I thought you were a disher, now you're a scorer?' But hey, it's kind of fun to get the goals."

He didn't get a point Thursday night in a 4-2 loss to Los Angeles but logged 20:55 minutes, tops among any Sharks winger, and was out there with the goalie pulled in the late stages as San Jose tried to make it close. He was also once again on the top power-play unit.

"He can play in any situation," Sharks GM Doug Wilson said this week. "Coaches look at players like this and say, 'Geez, give me 20 of them."'

Pavelski led the Wisconsin Badgers to the NCAA title last season, then had a superb camp with the Sharks in September.

"He had a training camp, in many ways, that arguably he should have made our team out of camp," said Wilson. "Then we made the decision to send him to Worcester. And in my mind he was the best player that I saw in the American Hockey League, at both ends of the rink."

He forced San Jose's hand by putting up 26 points (8-18) in 16 AHL games. When Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo went down with injuries in late November, Pavelski was the obvious call-up. Michalek and Cheechoo have since returned, but Pavelski hasn't gone back down.

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"He's certainly taken advantage of his chance," said Wilson. "He's got one of those hockey minds where he can play with anybody, he can play in any situation. He's just a great kid. When you meet his mom and dad you can understand why.

"I think he's going to be a very dominant player in this league for a long time. He's a hockey player."

Pavelski says the last four weeks have flown by.

"It has been a blur," said the 22-year-old native of Stevens Point, Wis. "I guess right now I'm just trying to be in the moment. That's an easy thing to get out of, to sit back and wonder, 'What's going on here.' But every day has just been just that much better. Just enjoying going to practice, being around the guys, being around some of the best players in the world.

"Just go out, do your job and do what go you here."

Family and friends back in Wisconsin are pumped beyond belief.

"I'm getting (messages) all the time from the boys back in Wisconsin," he said. "My parents are really proud, they were out here last week and they had a great time. I guess they're surprised, too, by how quick everything is happening.

"And everybody's calling me from back home saying they've the NHL package now. Some guys back at school are like, 'Quit being on SportsCenter, will you? What are you doing?' Just lots of joking like that, it's been pretty cool."

Interview requests, like the one by The Canadian Press, have been flying in from all over the continent.

"Yeah, I'm getting bombarded a bit right now but I guess that's a good thing," he said.

"Tim Burke and his staff," Wilson said, crediting his director of scouting.

In the broader sense, Wilson feels the '03 draft allowed him to pull the trigger on the Thornton blockbuster.

"Why? Because you move a (Brad) Stuart, a (Marco) Sturm and a (Wayne) Primeau, sure you get a Joe Thornton, but you better have other people that can step in and fill all those roles," said Wilson. "So in comes Michalek, Bernier and Carle last year. And now Pavelski."

It's called depth, which the good organizations get from smart drafting. And it's how Stanley Cups will be won, more than ever, in the salary cap NHL.

DENVER - Jose Theodore has his Hart, but does he have the hands and feet to be an NHL starting goalie anymore?

The veteran netminder won the NHL's MVP award in 2002 in Montreal, catching the fancy of the voters with two or three great months to get the Canadiens into the playoffs, but it's looking like one of those, "How did that happen?" stories.

The Colorado Avalanche netminder, who took his Hart Trophy and turned it into a $5.5-million US a year contract, watched $600,000 US backup Peter Budaj get the nod against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.

It was the third straight game Budaj, the Avalanche's top draft pick in 2001, has started while Theodore looked on.

Owner Stan Kroenke isn't crazy about paying that kind of dough for a cheerleader, but it's coach Joel Quenneville's call.

Budaj went into the Oilers game with a 7-4-1 record as a starter while Theo-dore has logged an 8-8-1 mark. Budaj's goals-against-average was 2.38, Theo-dore's at 3.06.

Theodore, who's an albatross around the neck of the Avs if he can't recover his game because they have to pay him next year, too, knows he has to be better.

"You're not going to win the Hart every year, but I still think I can be at that level," said the 30-year-old, who became only the second goalie (Dominik Hasek) in the last 45 years to win the MVP.

He's had some excellent games -- he won three straight starts in late October to early November with an impressive .942 save percentage -- but his play has been too up and down for a guy making his salary.

Backups can stand on their head every now and then, but No. 1 guys are supposed to be consistent.

The heat to perform in Montreal can be suffocating, especially for a French-Canadian, of course. He welcomed his trade to Denver last spring, but he's also following Hall of Famer Patrick Roy.

"The puck is the same size and so is the net (no matter where you play)," said Theodore. But when he was at his acrobatic best in Montreal, the puck looked the size of a grapefruit. Now, it's more like a marble. And he's also been allowing juicy rebounds, so, technically, his game is off-kilter.

"Jose's been all right this year ... he's starting to go in the right direction. He's looking to recapture his top form,"

said Quenneville, who knows the guy writing the cheques might rather see Theodore, but he has to look out for his players. He says it's not a money issue.

"As a coach you go into the season and look at the goalies and it's an independent decision," Quenneville told the Rocky Mountain News. "I don't think there's any pressure or influence based on economics. It's opportunity, based on who gives us the best chance to win."

And Theodore, frankly, hasn't been anywhere near the hot goalie who won the MVP and the Vezina trophy four years ago. His rebound control has been poor -- too many shots kicked into areas where shooters can fire again -- and he's been tentative in the net.

"It's a tough position where you really get scrutinized, where you're always measured if you let in a bad goal. But we think he's challenging more. He's on top of his crease more.

"I told Peter at the start of the year, not to be happy with the backup role," said Quenneville of Budaj. "Down the stretch, we saw he could get us into the playoffs (he played 14 straight games while Theodore, who'd broken his foot slipping on the sidewalk outside his home in Montreal before he was traded here, recuperated)."

DENVER - Jose Theodore has his Hart, but does he have the hands and feet to be an NHL starting goalie anymore?

The veteran netminder won the NHL's MVP award in 2002 in Montreal, catching the fancy of the voters with two or three great months to get the Canadiens into the playoffs, but it's looking like one of those, "How did that happen?" stories.

The Colorado Avalanche netminder, who took his Hart Trophy and turned it into a $5.5-million US a year contract, watched $600,000 US backup Peter Budaj get the nod against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.

It was the third straight game Budaj, the Avalanche's top draft pick in 2001, has started while Theodore looked on.

Owner Stan Kroenke isn't crazy about paying that kind of dough for a cheerleader, but it's coach Joel Quenneville's call.

Budaj went into the Oilers game with a 7-4-1 record as a starter while Theo-dore has logged an 8-8-1 mark. Budaj's goals-against-average was 2.38, Theo-dore's at 3.06.

Theodore, who's an albatross around the neck of the Avs if he can't recover his game because they have to pay him next year, too, knows he has to be better.

"You're not going to win the Hart every year, but I still think I can be at that level," said the 30-year-old, who became only the second goalie (Dominik Hasek) in the last 45 years to win the MVP.

He's had some excellent games -- he won three straight starts in late October to early November with an impressive .942 save percentage -- but his play has been too up and down for a guy making his salary.

Backups can stand on their head every now and then, but No. 1 guys are supposed to be consistent.

The heat to perform in Montreal can be suffocating, especially for a French-Canadian, of course. He welcomed his trade to Denver last spring, but he's also following Hall of Famer Patrick Roy.

"The puck is the same size and so is the net (no matter where you play)," said Theodore. But when he was at his acrobatic best in Montreal, the puck looked the size of a grapefruit. Now, it's more like a marble. And he's also been allowing juicy rebounds, so, technically, his game is off-kilter.

"Jose's been all right this year ... he's starting to go in the right direction. He's looking to recapture his top form,"

said Quenneville, who knows the guy writing the cheques might rather see Theodore, but he has to look out for his players. He says it's not a money issue.

"As a coach you go into the season and look at the goalies and it's an independent decision," Quenneville told the Rocky Mountain News. "I don't think there's any pressure or influence based on economics. It's opportunity, based on who gives us the best chance to win."

And Theodore, frankly, hasn't been anywhere near the hot goalie who won the MVP and the Vezina trophy four years ago. His rebound control has been poor -- too many shots kicked into areas where shooters can fire again -- and he's been tentative in the net.

"It's a tough position where you really get scrutinized, where you're always measured if you let in a bad goal. But we think he's challenging more. He's on top of his crease more.

"I told Peter at the start of the year, not to be happy with the backup role," said Quenneville of Budaj. "Down the stretch, we saw he could get us into the playoffs (he played 14 straight games while Theodore, who'd broken his foot slipping on the sidewalk outside his home in Montreal before he was traded here, recuperated)."

I think this yahoo streaming deal is pretty sweet. I'm sure I'm behind a huge buffer...but while the picture is small (I'm on a laptop) the quality is pretty good. It beats just listening to the game. I haven't been able to watch much hockey this season...so this is really something.

Every once in awhile the feed cuts out. Stops dead. So I just close the window, and click on the watch link again...and within in minute or so I'm right back in the action.

This is a really cool development. I tried to watch Calgary/Anaheim last night, but couldn't. I think because I'm in LoCal, and if you have cable you can watch them on FSN.